Hospital bed



April 13, 1965 w. R. BLACK ETAL HOSPITAL BED 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29, 1962 1N VENT 0R5 Warren R-Bladlt Ric'lzard C1 Zarzeckz' WITNESS Ala/r/ S B/wwwfu April 13, 1965 w. R. BLACK ETAL 3,177,503

HOSPITAL BED Filed NOV. 29, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Warren E. .Blac& Bz'dlzard. C. Zarzedki ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,177,503 HOSPITAL BED Warren R. Black and Richard C. Zarzecki, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignors to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Nov. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 240,897 2 Claims. (Cl. -68) The present invention relates to hospital beds.

The primary objects of the invention are to provide an improved hospital bed of the type that has a stationary center section and articulated head and knee sections, said knee sections comprising further articulated thigh and foot sections, whereby the bed may be adjusted to any of various positions as more fully described hereinafter; to provide such a bed in which novel means are provided for adjusting the angle between the thigh and foot sections of the bed, such means being greatly simplified over earlier devices serving the same purpose; and in general to provide such a bed which is simple and economical in construction and easy to operate.

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the bed showing the foot bed section in a position of forward-downward inclination from the thigh bed section;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the bed with all parts thereof shown in horizontal or prone position;

FIGURE 3 is another perspective view of the bed showing the foot bed section in a position of forward-upward inclination from the thigh bed section;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 44 of FIGURE 5, of parts of the bed at the foot end thereof;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the same taken on line 55 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of one of the latch-bars at the foot end of the bed and of a connecting cross-bar shown fragmentarily;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of the same;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the bed showing the thigh bed section inclined forwardly-upwardly and the foot bed section extending horizontally forwardly therefrom;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the bed showing in full lines the several bed sections in the same positions they occupy in FIGURE 8, and showing in dotted lines the head and knee bed sections in conventional, elevated, reclining positions; and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the bed showing in full lines the head bed section in rearwardly-downwardly extending position and the entire knee bed section in forwardly-upwardly extending position, and

showing in dotted lines the head bed section in rearwardly-upwardly extending position and the entire knee bed section in forwardly-downwardly extending position.

Referring now in detail to these drawings, the hospital 7 bed there shown generally comprises supporting legs 11 the upper ends of the side plates 13 for swinging movement between a horizontal position and positions extend- I ing rearwardly-upwardly or rearwardly-downwardly from the stationary center bed section. When in its horizontal position the head bed section 16 is supported against downward swinging movement by an inverted U-shaped support bar 18 pivotally mounted on opposite sides of the base 3,177,503 Patented Apr. 13, 1965 frame 12 and normally biased to upright supporting position by spring means not shown.

The articulated knee bed section comprises a thigh bed section 19 and a foot bed section 20 pivotally interconnected at 21. The thigh bed section 19 is pivotally mounted at 22 on the upper ends of the side plates 13 for swinging movement between a horizontal position and positions extending forwardly-upwardly or forwardly-downwardly from the stationary center bed section 15. When in its horizontal position the thigh bed section 19 is supported against downward swinging movement by an inverted U- shaped support bar 23 pivotally mounted on opposite sides of the base frame 12 and normally biased toward upright supporting position by spring means not shown.

The foot bed section 20 is swingable about its pivotal connection at 21 to the thigh bed section 19, between a position of alignment with the thigh bed section and positions extending forwardly-upwardly or forwardly-downwardly relative to said thigh bed section. Abutments in the form of pins 24 are secured as by welding to the base frame 12 on opposite sides thereof and below the pivotal connections at 21 between the thigh and foot bed sections. Latch-bars 25 are pivotally connected at 26 to the foot bed section 20 at opposite sides thereof and depend therefrom. The latch-bars 25 comprise lengths of metal tubing flattened in their lower regions and having sequences of notches 26 therein adapted to selectively engage the pins 24 for supporting the foot bed section 20 at selected positions of alignment with or angular adjustment relative to the thigh bed section 19. The latch-bars 25 depend from the foot bed section 20 in a rearward-downward direction with their notched regions resting on the pins 24 whereby the notches 26 open downwardly so as to automatically successively engage the pins 24 as the foot bed section 20 is swung upwardly relative to the thigh bed section. Hooks 27 on the lower ends of the latch-bars 25 are adapted to engage the pins 24 when the foot bed section 20 is swung to a predetermined limit of upward movement relative to the thigh bed section 19 thus to prevent accidental complete disengagement of the latch-bars from the pins. When the foot bed section is in its extreme raised position, the latch-bars may be manually disengaged from the pins in order to lower the foot bed section. A cross-bar 28 interconnects the latch bars to eifect movement of the latter in unison.

Mechanism is provided for raising and lowering the bed, the head bed section and the knee bed section. Such mechanism is not shown herein in detail since it forms no part of this invention. It may be motorized or manually operated as indicated in the drawings wherein hand cranks 29, 30, 31 may be turned to operable positions (not shown) and rotated to independently effect raising and lowering of the bed, raising or lowering of the head section or raising and lowering of the articulated knee section.

The bed mattress 32 supported on the several bed sec tions is sufiiciently flexible to be articulated with the bed sections.

Treatment positions FIGURE 1 illustrates the bed in prone position but with the foot bed section 20 extending forwardly-downwardly from the thigh bed section 19. This position is also illustrated in broken lines in FIGURE 4, and the position is effected by manually disengaging the latch-bars 25 from the pins 24 and allowing the foot bed section 20 to descend.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the bed in full horizontal prone position.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the bed in prone position but with the foot bed section 20 extending forwardly-upwardly from the thigh bed section 19. This position is effected by raising the foot bed section 20 to the desired height and permitting'the' pins 24 to engage in selected notches 26 in the latch-bars 25. This position is'also indicated in dottedlines in FIGURE 4. r

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FIGURE 8 illustrates What is called the vascular posi- I engaging the latch trate the ,bed ina more-or-less conventional, r ecliningf position, known as the Fowler position, in which'both t he head bed'section 16 and the articulated knee sectionare elevated.

The full'linesof FIGURElO illustratewhatiis known as the Trendelenberg, or shock,rpositio n of the bed.- This 7 position'isattained by first pivoting the inverted U-shaped support bar18 to a loweredpositionandpermittingjthe i head bed section 16 to lower." The articulated kneef section isthen elevated to aninte'rmediate, position bymeans ofthe appropriate hand crank,- and the foot bed section 2 20 isfinallyfmanually swung upwardly into alignmentwith '7 bed section 16 is first: elevated by means of the appropriate hand crank. Next the inverted U-shapedsupport bar 23 is manually pivoted to a lowered position so that the} articulated knee bed section; canbe lowered by means of the appropriate hand crank and the latch-bars "251 are engaged with the pins 24 in the appropriate; notches 26 tion and positions extending rearwardly-upwardly from saidlcenter bed section; t 1

j a thigh bed section pivotally mounted on the base frame for swinging movement betweenahorizontal position and positions extendin'g forwardly-upwardly from said center bed section; V

a foot bed section pivotally connected to the thigh bed ,section for swinging movement between a position of alignment with the thigh he'd section and positions extending forwardly-upwardly or forwardly-downwardly relative to said thigh bed section;

I abutments onop'posite' sides'of said base frame below the pivotal connections between the foot bed section and the thigh bed sectiong and x t,

latch-bars pivotally connected to said foot bed se'ctionat W I opposite 'sides thereof'and depending therefrom, said I a latch bars having sequences of notches therein adaptedltofselec tively engage said abutments for support- 2 mg said foot beds'ection'at selected positions of alignment with or angular 'adjustment relative to said thigh bed section, said "abutments comprising pins I secured to the .base frame and said latch bars comprising lengths of metal tubing flattened in their lower T regions and notched therein for enga'gement with said 'PlllSJ t t y i 2 Ahospital bed according to claim 1 in which hooks on the lowerends of the latch-bars are adapted to engage said pins when the foot bed section is swung to a predetermined limit ofupward move'ment relative tothe thigh bed section thus to prevent accidental complete disengagement of thel'atch-bars from said pins;

formain'taining the foot bedse'ctionzti and thethignbed 1 section 1 9 in forwardly-downwardlyextending alignment j It will thus be seen that'the inventionprovides a simple,

details thereof may be alterediorjomitted without depart:

following claims. 7 t

We claim: V f 5 i 1. In a hospital bed: 7 abaseframef. i arstationary horizontal'center bed section mounted on the base frame;

a head bed section pivotally mounted on the base frame for swinging movement between a horizontal po'si-f r I rugged and effective means for adjusting ahospitalbed to, i provide for the various treatment positions,',and whilebut' 7 one specific embodiment of the'i'nvention has been herein shown and described it will be understood that numerous- I 40 'ingvfrom thespirit of the invention as defined bythe V i a, f References Cited bythe Examiner UNITED STA S PATENTS F NK-3Q sHE-RRr; Erma/y Emma. Y 

1. IN A HOSPITAL BED: A BASE FRAME; A STATIONARY HORIZONTAL CENTER BED SECTION MOUNTED ON THE BASE FRAME; A HEAD BED SECTION PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE BASE FRAME FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT BETWEEN A HORIZONTAL POSITION AND POSITIONS EXTENDING REARWARDLY-UPWARDLY FROM SAID CENTER BED SECTION; A THIGH BED SECTION PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON THE BASE FRAME FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT BETWEEN A HORIZONTAL POSITION AND POSITIONS EXTENDING FORWARDLY-UPWARDLY FROM SAID CENTER BED SECTION; 